1999-2000 Season in Review
The Temple Men's Basketball team had several goals before the season. The Owls achieved their goals of an Atlantic 10 championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance, but they fell short of their unspoken goal of reaching the Final Four. The season was also highlighted by the return of Big 5 round-robin competition and an upset of the No. 1 ranked team in the nation.
Head coach John Chaney's Owls, who entered the season ranked sixth in the nation, hosted Miami (Ohio) in what turned out to be a pyrrhic victory for the team. While earning a 60-47 win, senior point guard Pepe Sanchez re-injured his right ankle with just 15 seconds to go in the game. Sanchez had not played in the two exhibition games after spraining the ankle in early November. Despite the injury, Sanchez had a team-high 10 assists and seven steals en route to becoming Temple's all-time career steals leader. He broke Mark Macon's career steals mark of 281, and would finish the season with 365 steals, 11 short of the NCAA record. Sanchez finished the season ranked third in steals and sixth in assists in the nation.
While Temple moved up to No. 5 in the country, it would not maintain that ranking for long with Sanchez missing the next eight games. The next contest led Temple to Springfield, Mass., to play Indiana in the Tip-Off Classic. Without Sanchez, the Owls fell to the unranked Hoosiers, 67-59, despite a 25-point performance by junior point guard Lynn Greer. The junior scored the first 14 Temple points of the second half and was perfect from the free throw line, shooting 5-of-5. It would be the first of three straight games in which Greer scored 20 points or more.
In the second game of their four straight games away from home, the Owls enjoyed a 69-58 win over Florida State in Tallahassee. The story of this game was the school record breaking 13 blocked shots. Center Kevin Lyde had a career-high eight and Lamont Barnes added four. Florida State jumped out to an early 19-11 lead before Barnes' tip-in began the comeback. At halftime, the Owls led 28-23, a lead they would keep for good. Greer contributed 20 points in the effort.
Wake Forest hosted the No. 10 ranked Owls, and defeated them, 77-72. The game was not as close as the final score indicated. The Demon Deacons owned the first half, allowing Temple to shoot only 16 percent and held a 48-22 halftime lead. The deficit was too great for the team to overcome despite a combined 55 points by Mark Karcher and Greer. Karcher attempted 33 shots from the field, and his 33 points were the most in a game since Rick Brunson's 36 points versus George Washington in 1995.
Participating in the Great Eight Tournament in Chicago gave the Owls their first real test against a ranked opponent -- No. 24 Gonzaga. They handled the Bulldogs, 64-48, as Karcher led the team in scoring with 19 points. Barnes contributed nine rebounds.
The Owls returned home to face their first Big 5 opponent Villanova. Greer made the highlight reel, sinking a running three-pointer as time expired in the first half to give the Owls a 40-33 lead. They never lost the lead, going on to tame the Wildcats 69-66. Quincy Wadley notched 17 points to lead three more Owls in double figures.
After posting a victory against state-rival Penn State at home, the Owls traveled to Cleveland State. In a reunion between Chaney and former Villanova coach Rollie Massimino, Temple defeated the Vikings 79-66. Once again, a Temple victory proved bittersweet as Karcher was forced from the game with a shoulder injury.
With a severely depleted lineup and still on the road, Temple could not get past Wisconsin. The short-handed Owls were without Karcher who suffered a sprained shoulder against Cleveland State. Lyde did not start due to back spasms that plagued him all season. Barnes was troubled by a sprained knee, and of course, the Owls were still without Sanchez. Wadley would pick up Karcher's missing offense by scoring a career-high 25 points, but it would not be enough to hold off the Badgers, 62-44. It would prove to be one of the low points of the season.
But the Owls fortunes were about to change. Temple opened conference play by easily handling Rhode Island, 88-45. It marked the first time all season the Owls were at full strength. Sanchez would make a successful return looking as if he had not missed a beat, contributing nine assists and seven steals in the victory. Wadley would lead the team with 17 points.
Now at full strength, Temple soon dominated the A-10, picking up wins against St. Joseph's and Fordham. The Owls stumbled in a heartbreaker at St. Bonaventure 57-56. After leading 33-22 at the half, the Owls would fall on a last second Bonnie three-pointer with three ticks left on the clock.
The disappointing loss to the Bonnies drove the Owls to win their next 13 straight games, including wins over La Salle, Penn, Virginia Tech, Xavier, Duquesne, UMass, Rhode Island and Fordham. The Owls' largest challenge of the season came in one particular eight game stretch in which the Cherry and White faced No. 22 Maryland, Dayton and No. 1 Cincinnati.
The No. 15 Owls hosted Maryland, who came to the newly-named Liacouras Center (formerly The Apollo of Temple). This non-conference matchup boasted 13 lead changes, as the Terrapins did not go away easily. At halftime, the teams were knotted at 30. A Greer three-pointer midway through the second half would put Temple up for good, 50-49. The Cherry and White led by as much as eight, and they went on to win by that margin, 73-65. Barnes had a season high 23 points. Sanchez added five points, 11 assists and a career-high nine steals.
Next, the Owls traveled to Dayton to play in one of the most intimidating arenas in the country. It turned out to be another tough battle, as there were 14 lead changes and a halftime deficit of only four points for the Flyers, 29-25. The deadlock continued until a Sanchez trey with 11:33 to go put his team up for good, 46-44. The final score was 64 58, and Temple continued its winning ways.
But the most celebrated win this season was also one of the biggest upsets in the nation. The No. 15 Owls traveled to Shoemaker Arena to face No. 1 Cincinnati. Sanchez was a surprising, late addition to the lineup after spraining his left ankle against Dayton the game before. He played 38 minutes and scored seven points and had five assists. Karcher scored 22 of his 28 points in the second half, after sitting out the final five minutes of the first half with two fouls. Trailing by one at the half, 34-33, the Owls pulled out a convincing win, 77-69, against the Bearcats, halting Cincinnati's 42-game winning streak at home and 16-game win streak overall.
Also included in Temple's 13-game win streak was a victory over St. Bonaventure, 75-58. The Owls were out to avenge their last-second loss to the Bonnies earlier in the season. The game belonged to Temple all the way, as they led at halftime 40-25. Sanchez dished out 13 assists and three Owls were in double figures in scoring.
Riding the confidence of their 13-game win streak, Temple was brought back to earth by St. Joseph's. In an old-fashioned, Big Five game at the Palestra, Karcher could not get a game-tieing three-pointer to fall as the clock expired, giving the Hawks a 62-59 victory. Although the Owls outshot St. Joe's 20-19, had a better shooting percentage, .385-.358, and out-rebounded the Hawks 37-34; it was the 11-5 three-point shooting deficit that would lead to the upset.
Coming off that devastating loss, Temple was determined to finish strong in a final tuneup before the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Lyde was forced to sit out the game while University officials investigated whether his AAU coach paid for a summer school class while he was in high school. Even without the team's top rebounder, Temple notched a convincing win against George Washington, 98-67 at the Smith Center.
The Owls, who climbed to No. 6 in the AP poll, owned the Atlantic 10 Tournament, earning a championship title and achieving one of their preseason goals. The Owls first faced Virginia Tech in the quarterfinal round and cruised to a 71-52 victory. Rival UMass came calling in the semifinals. The Minutemen kept it close, trailing by only four points at the half, 27-23. But Temple never lost that lead and went on to win 54 47 to advance to the championship game to face St. Bonaventure for the third time. After splitting their regular season games, the Owls were determined not to let this one get away. At halftime, Temple was crushing the Bonnies, 37-12. The closest the Bonnies would get to catching the Owls would be with six minutes to go, when a three-pointer cut Temple's lead to 14, 50-36. There was no looking back for the Owls, who cruised to a 65-44 win and an Atlantic 10 championship title, their first in 10 years.
The next step on their quest for their first Final Four under Chaney would be the NCAA East Regional in Buffalo, N.Y., where the Owls' first round opponent would be the Lafayette Leopards. Lafayette, just 75 miles from the Owls in Easton, Pa., is coached by Fran O'Hanlon, a close friend to Chaney and the Owls staff -- someone very familiar with Temple's matchup zone. Lafayette was facing a Temple team that sported the second ranked scoring and field goal percentage defense in the nation.
The Owls easily handled the Leopards, 73-47. The game was never really in jeopardy as Temple held the lead the entire game. Sanchez dished out 15 assists in the victory, breaking his old career high of 14 and having the third highest assist total in NCAA tournament history. The mark was one off the East Region record of 16 set by New Mexico State's Sam Crawford vs. Nebraska in 1993.
Advancing to the second round, the Owls faced a challenging Seton Hall squad. Temple jumped out to an early 14-3 lead before the Pirates lost point guard Shaheen Holloway. Ty Shine entered the game and instantly changed Seton Hall's fortune, making seven three-pointers. Still, the Owls crawled back and a Karcher three-pointer sent the game into overtime, 57-57. But Seton Hall outscored the Owls 10-8 in OT to come away with the 67-65 victory to crush Temple's goal of a national championship run.
Seniors Barnes, Sanchez and Keaton Sanders wrapped up their Temple careers with four NCAA Tournament appearances, three Atlantic-10 regular season championships, and an A-10 Tournament title. Sanchez garnered a slew of individual honors, including 3rd team All America, 2nd team GTE Academic All-America, A-10 player of the year, A-10 defensive player of the year, A-10 academic player of the year, and Big 5 player of the year for the second straight season.
The Owls received both good news and bad news in the off season. First, Karcher declared himself eligible for the NBA draft, ending a two-year career at Temple in which he led the team in scoring both seasons. Next, the NCAA passed legislation allowing non-qualifiers to receive a fourth year of eligibility if they graduated on time. Wadley was on track to take advantage of that policy change. Assistant Coach Dean Demopoulos, a member of Chaney's staff for the last 17 years, accepted the head coaching position at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and has departed. Coach Chaney and the players were selected as the 2000 recipients of the John Wanamaker Athletic Award. The award is presented annually since 1961 to the "athlete, team or organization that has done the most to reflect credit upon Philadelphia and to the team or sport in which they excel."
As the Owls charge ahead to the 2000-01 season, they face an upcoming year of youth and rebuilding in their hunt for that elusive national championship.
Atlantic 10 Tournament Most Outstanding Player: Quincy Wadley
Atlantic 10 All-Tournament Team: Quincy Wadley, Pepe Sanchez and Mark Karcher
AP Third Team All-America: Pepe Sanchez
Atlantic 10 Player of the Year: Pepe Sanchez
Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year: Pepe Sanchez
Atlantic 10 Student-Athlete of the Year: Pepe Sanchez
Atlantic 10 First Team All-Conference: Pepe Sanchez, Mark Karcher
Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Team: Pepe Sanchez
Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team: Pepe Sanchez
Basketball Times First Team All-America: Pepe Sanchez
GTE Second Team Academic All-America District 2 Academic All-America: Pepe Sanchez
NABC District 3 First Team All-Academic squad: Pepe Sanchez
NABC Third team All-America: Pepe Sanchez
NABC All-Star Game: Pepe Sanchez
Eastern Basketball Player of the Year: Pepe Sanchez
USBWA District 1 Player of the Year: Pepe Sanchez
Big 5 Player of the Year: Pepe Sanchez
Big 5 Team: Pepe Sanchez (first team), Mark Karcher (first team), Quincy Wadley (second team)
NABC District 3 First Team: Mark Karcher
USBWA District I: Mark Karcher and Pepe Sanchez
Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year: John Chaney
